Following a breakout debut and a year on the road, Eliza McLamb is back with a new album. And this time, she’s not just telling her story, she’s breaking the norms of storytelling itself.
Good Story, due out October 24 via Royal Mountain Records, finds the 23-year-old singer-songwriter leveling up in every way. Where her 2024 debut, Going Through It, was a raw document of personal trauma and self-discovery, Good Story is a sharp, meta reflection on the narratives we build as we grow up, and what’s left when we outgrow them. Alongside today’s album announcement, McLamb has released the lead single “Like the Boys,” a guitar-forward anthem that rewrites teenage longing into something much more self-aware.
“‘Like the Boys’ is about being a girl among the boys,” McLamb shares. “I wanted to gain their authority, their audacity. I wanted them to love me like they loved each other. And looking back now, I see how we all played pretend with one another. I also see how play can be violent.” The track arrives with a cinematic visual that underscores its themes of gender, identity, and performative belonging.
The single follows last month’s standalone release “Quitting,” a punchy, tongue-in-cheek cut that previewed the sound of the new record. Both tracks were recorded in upstate New York alongside a stacked team: producer Sarah Tudzin (illuminati hotties), guitarist Jacob Blizard (Lucy Dacus), Death Cab for Cutie’s Jason McGerr on drums, and keyboardist Sarah Goldstone (Chappell Roan, boygenius).
At the heart of Good Story is the silver spray-painted, homemade trophy on its cover, cobbled together by McLamb and her mother from found scraps. It’s a perfect emblem for the album: sincere, imperfect, self-aware. “I did really well telling the story of who I am,” she says. “But I began asking: what’s the point of it?”
Much of Good Story was written after McLamb left Los Angeles for New York City, searching for new stimuli and a break from solipsism. She fell into literary scenes and started writing songs on subway rides. That shift in process led to an album full of vivid vignettes, thematic twists, and unexpected moments of humor. It’s less about closure and more about re-evaluation.
Standouts include “California,” a dreamy farewell to the state she used to call home; “Suffering,” a self-aware rock burner that starts with a baroque piano intro and ends in glorious chaos; and “Every Year,” the album’s emotional thesis: “A story is a lifeboat / and sometimes there is land.”
It’s not all heavy, though. McLamb balances her writing with an eye for irony and a comfort with contradiction. She’s in motion, and Good Story captures that transitional moment with honesty, wit, and a hard-won sense of freedom.
Tracklist – Good Story
- Better Song
- Like the Boys
- California
- Suffering
- Good Story
- Promise
- Water Inside the Fence
- Talisman
- Mausoleum
- Forever, Like That
- Every Year
- Girls I Know
- Getting Free
Listen to “Like the Boys” on all streaming platforms and watch the video now. Good Story is available for pre-order ahead of its October 24 release via Royal Mountain Records.
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